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26 May 2011
Last updated at 08:01 ET
A labourer who evaded justice for decades over two Pembrokeshire double murders has been jailed for life.
John Cooper was found guilty of the 1985 murder of brother and sister Richard and Helen Thomas, and Peter and Gwenda Dixon, of Oxfordshire, in 1989.
Cooper, 66, from Letterston, was also convicted of separate charges of rape, sexual assault and attempted robbery.
After an eight-week trial, the judge at Swansea Crown Court told Cooper he was a very dangerous man.
The jury returned guilty verdicts after two days of deliberations.
Cooper shot the Thomases at their remote home near Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire.
During the interviews conducted by police in June 2008, he denied having been anywhere near Scoveston Park where the Thomases were murdered.
Mr and Mrs Dixon were shot at close range while walking the Pembrokeshire coastal path while on holiday.
The court heard he intercepted the couple in daylight, took them to a nearby hideaway and demanded details about their bank cards.
Again using a shotgun, it was claimed Mr Cooper "silenced them forever".
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John Cooper was found guilty of the 1985 murder of brother and sister Richard and Helen Thomas, and Peter and Gwenda Dixon, of Oxfordshire, in 1989.
Cooper, 66, from Letterston, was also convicted of separate charges of rape, sexual assault and attempted robbery.
After an eight-week trial, the judge at Swansea Crown Court told Cooper he was a very dangerous man.
The jury returned guilty verdicts after two days of deliberations.
Cooper shot the Thomases at their remote home near Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire.
During the interviews conducted by police in June 2008, he denied having been anywhere near Scoveston Park where the Thomases were murdered.
Mr and Mrs Dixon were shot at close range while walking the Pembrokeshire coastal path while on holiday.
The court heard he intercepted the couple in daylight, took them to a nearby hideaway and demanded details about their bank cards.
Again using a shotgun, it was claimed Mr Cooper "silenced them forever".
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